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Automated police? They could be coming to a community near you in the near future

The 1987 film “RoboCop” by director Paul Verhoeven and starring Peter Weller was set in a future version of Detroit so overwhelmed by violent crime that the government decided to privatize the police force. The corporation that won the contract, Omni Consumer Products, used robots to keep the peace.

However, because society would not accept fully autonomous law enforcement officers, Omni introduced cyborgs, which are a blend of a robotic body with a human brain. The storyline is similar to that of the 2017 movie “Ghost in the Shell” with Scarlett Johansson. The same problem occurred in both films: the human brain begins to remember its past life and rebels against its controllers. Things go downhill from there.

Now, RoboCop is returning. Neil Blomkamp, who directed the film “District 9” about aliens living in South African slums, is working on a sequel that ignores the 2014 RoboCop remake. Time will tell how the new movie incorporates advances in technology that have been made in the last 30 years.

Are we ready for automated law enforcement?

It’s not as far-fetched as you might think.

RoboCop, a futuristic look at technology and policing, has as always been a cult favorite.(Photo: Kerry Hayes, Columbia Pictures)

Aren’t speed cameras that photograph cars as they cross intersections not a form of automated law enforcement? If they detect a car speeding, they issue a ticket. No police officer is involved. They are controversial, but their use is widespread.

Moreover, we already have drones flying around the globe, operating as part of the military and as part of homeland security. Human operators usually control the drones, but technically there’s little reason to keep humans in the loop. Artificial intelligence has advanced so much that drone swarms that exhibit autonomous behavior is already possible.

When people talk about self-driving cars, we usually think of taxi service or big-rig trucks. Why not self-driving police cars for surveillance and RoboCop for enforcement? They could enter no-go zones that are challenging for current police forces. They could replace the old beat cop with a formidable presence in the most dangerous of neighborhoods. They could also make terrible mistakes if their programming was incorrect – but people are prone to errors as well.

We tend to think of RoboCop as a giant machine, but there’s no reason why it could not be quite small, somewhat like Ant Man. Small robots have proven to be capable of doing everything from self-assembly to drone pollination. They can operate on land, in the sea, in the air, and soon, in space. Given the terrible toll conflicts such as those in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken on our military personnel, would we be prepared to outsource some of those duties to RoboCop? Maybe.

Tilley is a professor at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. Contact him at TechnologyToday@srtilley.com